Why Young British Lottery Winner Is Suing

Britain's Youngest Lottery Winner Is Suing Lottery Bosses. Yes Really

Can you imagine winning the lottery and complaining publicly about it? Us neither. It's the stuff many people's dreams are made of. (Just think of the shoebox London flat you'd finally be able to afford.)

But for one lottery winner, the windfall wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Jane Park, Britain's youngest Euromillions winner, said winning £1 million at the age of 17 "ruined her life" and she believes it would have been better without her fortune, the Sunday People reported.

Not only that, but Park, who is now 21, said she's planning to sue lottery bosses for negligence. Presumably she hasn't realised this could mean she ends up with even more money.

According to her, 16- and 17-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to win such a large amount of money and she believes the minimum age should be at least 18.

Before her lottery win, Park worked for £8 an hour as an admin temp and lived with her mum in a small flat in Edinburgh. Now, she owns two properties.

But she said she'd become bored of buying things and that it didn't make her happier in the long term. “I thought it would make it 10 times better but it’s made it 10 times worse. I wish I had no money most days. I say to myself, ‘My life would be so much easier if I hadn’t won’,” she told the Sunday People.

Park added that, while people may envy her riches and lifestyle, "they don’t realise the extent of my stress. I have material things but apart from that my life is empty. What is my purpose in life?”

Now, money obviously doesn't buy happiness and we know it must be difficult to adjust to a new lifestyle – we're not saying it sounds easy. It's just arguably a little insensitive to be so publicy dissatisfied with your great fortune, when millions of people across the country are struggling and more than a million are living in destitution.

Camelot, which runs Euromillions in the UK, did in fact provide Park with an adviser to help her manage her new wealth, but she said it was her family who encouraged her to keep her spending under control.

Park said she could easily see how other lottery winners ended up blowing all their cash. “I was stuck in front of a financial adviser who was using words like investment bonds. I had no clue what they meant.”

She also said her wealth had made her feel lonely and isolated among her friendship group. "It’s scary how different my life is from my friends," she said. "When they say they’re stressed about the money they mean their wages are s***,” she said. “There’s no one in the same boat as me, no one who really understands. I feel like I’m a 40-year-old.”

Camelot, meanwhile, said it also put Park in touch with another 17-year-old winner to share their experience, as well as a financial adviser, reported the Sunday People.

“We have been in touch with Jane from time to time since her win to ­offer ongoing support. It is always up to the winners as to ­whether they want to take up that support," they said, adding that they'll continue to support her if she wants it.

As for a potential new age limit to play the lottery? Camelot said that's a matter for Parliament to decide.